Multi-talented Italian singer-songwriter and composer Franco Battiato will perform in his first Los Angeles area concert, presented by 89.9 KCRW and the Fondazione Azzurra on Sunday October 18, 2009 at the Broad Stage closing the first edition of (H)itweek L.A. A six day Festival celebrating Italian Music, Art, Poetry, Literature and Cinema.
The 68 year-old, Sicilian-born musician will draw from a stunning repertoire spanning four decades: From his seminal 1971 prog-rock release “Fetus” (re-released in 2006 with liner notes by friend and avant-rocker Jim O’Rourke) to 2008’s “Fleurs 2” which features duets with Antony Hegarty (Antony and the Johnsons) and fellow Catanian Carmen Consoli. Battiato will present a “once in the lifetime” show accompanied by a 7 piece group which includes the noted Italian string quartet Il Nuovo Quartetto Italiano.
The award winning Franco Battiato is Internationally regarded as one of the most original creators in Italian music from the 1970s to the present. Battiato’s 1970s output embraced more electronic influences than his Italian prog-rock counterparts of the period such as PFM (Premiata Forneria Marconi) and found him opening European concerts for the likes of Brian Eno and Nico. Battiato’s experiments in this arena culminated in 1978’s “L’Egitto Prima delle Sabbie” (Egypt Before The Sands) which won a Stockhausen Prize for piano composition.
In 1984, Battiato penned and performed Italy’s entry to the Eurovision Song Contest “I Treni di Tozeur” (The Trains of Tozeur). The song is widely considered to be the most sophisticated composition to compete in this song contest of somewhat dubious reputation. Sung as a duet with Italian singer Alice, the song’s unusual meter, German language “sample” from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”, and political and historical references
to France and North Africa fell refreshingly outside the usual dance-pop fare of the era.
In 1999 Franco Battiato released “Fleurs,†the first in a trilogy of cover albums. His interpretation of The Rolling Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday” was later prominently featured in director Alfonso Cuarón’s 2006 film “Children of Men†.
Franco Battiato’s recorded career continued into the 2000’s with a diverse range of collaborators including Simple Minds’ Jim Kerr, Middle Eastern-Electronica pioneer Natacha Atlas and the great Argentine diva Mercedes Sosa. His body of recorded work consists of some 38 studio and live album releases around the world with compositions in Spanish, French, English, Arabic and Sicilian languages in addition to Italian. Battiato has also composed 3 operas as well as classical works for orchestra, ballet and film soundtracks.
For the past two decades Franco Battiato’s interest in philosophy and Eastern religions has migrated to the Visual Arts. Painting under the pseudonym Süphan Barzani his works have been shown in exhibitions in Europe and the United States: The Italian Cultural Institute will host his personal exhibition from October13th through November 14 . More recently adding the title of filmmaker to his resume, Franco Battiato’s debut effort “Perduto Amor” (Lost Love) was awarded Italy’s “Nastro D’Argento” critics prize for best directorial debut in 2004. His second film “Musikanten” about the last two years of the life of Ludwig van Beethoven was shown in selection at the Venice Film Festival in 2006 and got a premiere screening October14th at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
Franco Battiato web site: http://www.battiato.it
